Verizon and City of Philadelphia named in premises liability suit

A Philadelphia man is suing Verizon and the City of Philadelphia for injuries he sustained after falling over a broken sewage-draining inlet.

Attorney Justin Bieber, of the law firm Clearfield, Kofsky & Penneys, filed the premises liability/slip-and-fall civil complaint May 13 at the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas on behalf of his client, city resident James McNair. The lawsuit says McNair was walking along the 4900 block of North Broad Street when he tripped and fell over a crumbled piece of sidewalk that also contained a large broken sewer inlet.

The incident caused McNair to suffer various injuries, including permanently disabling disc problems, cuts and abrasions with permanent scarring, thoracic sprain and strain, cervical sprain and strain and other ailments, the lawsuits states.

The suit says the plaintiff will be required to undergo continuous medical procedures, which will cause him to expend large sums of money for an indefinite time into the future.

“As a further result of the accident … McNair has suffered severe physical pain, mental anguish and humiliation and may continue to suffer same for an indefinite time in the future,” the lawsuit states.

In the suit, the plaintiff’s attorney accuses both Verizon Pennsylvania Inc. and the City of Philadelphia of negligence in allowing a defective condition to exist on a public throughway.

McNair is seeking damages jointly and/or severally in an amount in excess of the arbitration limits, or $50,000, for both counts in the complaint.